Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes

With fresh-squeeze Meyer lemon and zest in the batter, these poppy seed pancakes have a bright flavor that make us think of the coming spring. Layer your cakes with sweet lemon and cream cheese filling for a divine brunch treat.

We have a few pancake recipes on our blog Superman Cooks (See them here!), but this is by far my favorite. The fresh citrus flavor tastes divine. Meyer lemons taste a bit like an orange and a bit like a lemon; they are perfectly tart, yet wonderfully sweet.

We originally tried these Meyer Lemon + Poppy Seed Pancakes with the standard butter and maple syrup topping. While it was delicious, we found it to be a little too heavy; the strong maple taste masked the fresh lemon flavor. After a little experimentation, I decided a light cream cheese and lemon filling might be a better compliment. Despite my fear that this would be too heavy and hard to eat, I continued along the path. I am happy to report that my fears were unmerited. This combination worked perfectly. The cream cheese kept the taste light, yet completely satisfied my pancake cravings

There are more days when it’s just Jackie and I in the house because the kids have busier social calendars than we do. The day that I perfected this recipe just happened to be one of those days. We found ourselves devouring these pancakes with little abandon. They were just that good. We had no leftovers, no proof of bragging rights, and full bellies that left us little room for the next recipe I had planned to prepare.

With fresh-squeeze Meyer lemon and zest in the batter, these poppy seed pancakes have a bright flavor that make us think of the coming spring. Layer your cakes with sweet lemon and cream cheese filling for a divine brunch treat.

Author: Keith Jackie

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Serves: 12-14 pancakes

Ingredients

1 C buttermilk

1 tbsp. + 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 egg

2 tbsp. melted butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

1¼ C flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp poppy seeds

FOR THE FILLING:

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

2 C powdered sugar

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix together.

In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients and allow to sit for 15 minutes

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until wet. Be careful to not over mix (you want to have some lumps). If you over mix it will make pancakes less fluffy.

Heat large Teflon skillet over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray for the initial pancake. After that you do not need to spray pan.

Drop pancake batter by ¼ C onto skillet until sides pull up and pancake starts to bubble. Flip and cook for 1 minute.

To make filling:

Mix cream cheese, lemon juice and zest along with powdered sugar until well combined.

To serve place pancakes in stack with a portion of cream cheese mix in between pancakes.